Method and system for generating an itinerary

Abstract

A method for generating an itinerary to be implemented by a system includes: enabling the system to determine a route that starts at a departure point and that ends at a destination point with reference to an electronic route-providing source; enabling the system to determine at least one candidate place-of-interest located in the vicinity of the route with reference to an electronic place-of-interest providing source; and enabling the system to generate an itinerary that departs from the departure point and that arrives at the destination point via the route. The system includes the candidate place-of-interest as a to-be-visited place-of-interest into the itinerary based on an estimated travel time associated with the route, a duration of stay associated with the to-be-visited place-of-interest already included in the itinerary, and a duration of stay associated with the candidate place-of-interest. A system that performs the method is also disclosed.

1 . A method for generating an itinerary to be implemented by a system, said method comprising:
 A) enabling the system to determine a route that starts at a departure point and that ends at a destination point with reference to an electronic route-providing source;   B) enabling the system to determine at least one candidate place-of-interest located in the vicinity of the route with reference to an electronic place-of-interest providing source, the candidate place-of-interest having a duration of stay associated therewith; and   C) enabling the system to generate an itinerary that departs from the departure point and that arrives at the destination point via the route, the system including the candidate place-of-interest as a to-be-visited place-of-interest into the itinerary based on an estimated travel time associated with the route, the duration of stay associated with the to-be-visited place-of-interest already included in the itinerary, and the duration of stay associated with the candidate place-of-interest.   
   
   
       2 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein, in step C), the system includes the candidate place-of-interest into the itinerary based further on a departure time associated with the departure point, and an arrival time associated with the destination point, said method further comprising:
 D) enabling the system to obtain the departure point, the destination point, the departure time associated with the departure point, and the arrival time associated with the destination point prior to step A).   
   
   
       3 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising:
 E) when the system detects departure from a visited one of the places-of-interest in the itinerary, enabling the system to calculate an estimated time of arrival at the destination point based on an estimated remaining travel time associated with the route, the duration of stay associated with each of the to-be-visited places-of-interest in the itinerary, and the time of day; and   F) when the estimated time of arrival calculated in step E) is later than the arrival time associated with the destination point, enabling the system to request confirmation whether or not to revise the to-be-visited places-of-interest in the itinerary.   
   
   
       4 . The method as claimed in  claim 3 , further comprising: G) when the system receives the confirmation to revise the to-be-visited places-of-interest in the itinerary, enabling the system to generate a new itinerary that departs at a current location thereof and that arrives at the destination point via the route, the system including the candidate place-of-interest between the visited one of the places-of-interest and the destination point as a to-be-visited place-of-interest into the new itinerary based on the estimated remaining travel time associated with the route, the duration of stay associated with the candidate place-of-interest, the time of day, and the arrival time associated with the destination point. 
   
   
       5 . The method as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the system is enabled to issue a message when the system fails to include the candidate place-of-interest into the new itinerary in step G). 
   
   
       6 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising:
 E) when the system detects departure from a visited one of the places-of-interest in the itinerary, enabling the system to calculate an estimated time of arrival at the destination point based on an estimated remaining travel time associated with the route, the duration of stay associated with each of the to-be-visited places-of-interest in the itinerary, and the time of day; and   F) when the estimated time of arrival calculated in step E) is later than the arrival time associated with the destination point, enabling the system to generate a new itinerary that departs at a current location thereof and that arrives at the destination point via the route, the system including the candidate place-of-interest between the visited one of the places-of-interest and the destination point as a to-be-visited place-of-interest into the new itinerary based on the estimated remaining travel time associated with the route, the duration of stay associated with the candidate place-of-interest, the time of day, and the arrival time associated with the destination point.   
   
   
       7 . The method as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein the system is enabled to issue a message when the system fails to include the candidate place-of-interest into the new itinerary in step F). 
   
   
       8 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , further comprising:
 E) when the system detects departure from the departure point, enabling the system to periodically calculate an estimated time of arrival at the destination point based on a current location thereof, the duration of stay associated with each of the to-be-visited places-of-interest in the itinerary, and the time of day; and   F) when the estimated time of arrival calculated in step E) is later than the arrival time associated with the destination point, enabling the system to issue a warning.   
   
   
       9 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein step C) includes the sub-steps of: c 1 ) enabling the system to calculate an estimated time of arrival at the destination point for the itinerary based on the estimated travel time associated with the route, the duration of stay associated with the to-be-visited place-of-interest already included in the itinerary, the duration of stay associated with the candidate place-of-interest, and the departure time associated with the departure point; and
 c 2 ) when the estimated time of arrival at the destination point calculated in sub-step c 1 ) is earlier than the arrival time associated with the destination point, enabling the system to include the candidate place-of-interest into the itinerary.   
   
   
       10 . The method as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein, in step C), the system includes the candidate place-of-interest into the itinerary when the summation of the estimated travel time associated with the route, the duration of stay associated with the to-be-visited place-of-interest already included in the itinerary, and the duration of stay associated with the candidate place-of-interest is less than a time difference between the departure time associated with the departure point and the arrival time associated with the destination point. 
   
   
       11 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein, in step C), the system includes the candidate place-of-interest into the itinerary based further on a desired travel time between the departure point and the destination point, said method further comprising:
 D) enabling the system to obtain the departure point, the destination point, and the desired travel time between the departure point and the destination point prior to step A).   
   
   
       12 . The method as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein, in step D), the system is further enabled to obtain a departure time associated with the departure point and an arrival time associated with the destination point, and the desired travel time between the departure point and the destination point is based on the departure time and the arrival time obtained thereby. 
   
   
       13 . The method as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein, in step C), the system includes the candidate place-of-interest into the itinerary when the summation of the estimated travel time associated with the route, the duration of stay associated with the to-be-visited place-of-interest already included in the itinerary, and the duration of stay associated with the candidate place-of-interest is less than the desired travel time between the departure point and the destination point. 
   
   
       14 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein, in step C), the estimated travel time associated with the route is calculated based on a distance of the route and an actual speed value obtained by the system. 
   
   
       15 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 D) enabling the system to issue a message a predetermined time period before the duration of stay associated with a currently visited place-of-interest in the itinerary elapses.   
   
   
       16 . A system for generating an itinerary, comprising:
 a storage module storing
 an electronic route-providing source that includes an electronic map, and 
 an electronic place-of-interest providing source that includes a plurality of candidate places-of-interest, each of which has a duration of stay associated therewith; and 
   a processing module coupled to said storage module, and operable so as to obtain a departure point and a destination point, so as to determine a route that starts at the departure point and that ends at the destination point with reference to the electronic map of said electronic route-providing source, so as to determine at least one of the candidate places-of-interest of said electronic place-of-interest providing source located in the vicinity of the route, and so as to generate an itinerary that departs from the departure point and that arrives at the destination point via the route, said processing module including the candidate place-of-interest as a to-be-visited place-of-interest into the itinerary based on an estimated travel time associated with the route, the duration of stay associated with the to-be-visited place-of-interest already included in the itinerary, and the duration of stay associated with the candidate place-of-interest.   
   
   
       17 . The system as claimed in  claim 16 , wherein:
 said processing module is further operable so as to obtain a departure time associated with the departure point, and an arrival time associated with the destination point; and   said processing module includes the candidate place-of-interest into the itinerary based further on the departure time associated with the departure point and the arrival time associated with the destination point.   
   
   
       18 . The system as claimed in  claim 17 , wherein:
 said processing module is further operable so as to detect departure from a visited one of the places-of-interest in the itinerary;   when said processing module detects the departure from the visited one of the places-of-interest in the itinerary, said processing module calculates an estimated time of arrival at the destination point based on an estimated remaining travel time associated with the route, the duration of stay associated with each of the to-be-visited places-of-interest in the itinerary, and the time of day; and   when the estimated time of arrival calculated by said processing module is later than the arrival time associated with the destination point, said processing module requests confirmation whether or not to revise the to-be-visited places-of-interest in the itinerary.   
   
   
       19 . The system as claimed in  claim 18 , wherein:
 when said processing module receives the confirmation to revise the to-be-visited places-of-interest in the itinerary, said processing module generates anew itinerary that departs at a current location thereof and that arrives at the destination point via the route; and   said processing module includes the candidate place-of-interest between the visited one of the places-of-interest and the destination point as a to-be-visited place-of-interest into the new itinerary based on the estimated remaining travel time associated with the route, the duration of stay associated with the candidate place-of-interest, the time of day, and the arrival time associated with the destination point.   
   
   
       20 . A computer program product comprising:
 a machine readable storage medium having program instructions stored therein which when executed cause a system to perform a set of operations including:   determining a route that starts at a departure point and that ends at a destination point with reference to an electronic route-providing source;   determining at least one candidate place-of-interest located in the vicinity of the route with reference to an electronic place-of-interest providing source, the candidate place-of-interest having a duration of stay associated therewith; and   generating an itinerary that departs from the departure point and that arrives at the destination point via the route, the candidate place-of-interest being included as a to-be-visited place-of-interest into the itinerary based on an estimated travel time associated with the route, the duration of stay associated with the to-be-visited place-of-interest already included in the itinerary, and the duration of stay associated with the candidate place-of-interest.